Improvement in knitting-machine needles



No, 128,274 Patentedlune 25,1872.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHAN H. BALDWIN, OF LACONIA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

IMPROVEMENT IN KNITTING-MACHINE NEEDLES.

I Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 128,274, dated June25, 1872; antedated June 18, 1872.

Specification describing certain Improvements in Knitting-MachineNeedle, invented by NATHAN H. BALDWIN, of Laconia, in the county ofBelknap and State of New Hampshire.

My invention consists in having the sliding latch run upon the frontside of the needle, except for a short distance belowthe hook, where ashallow groove is provided by flanges rising from the front side toreceive the point when drawn and carry the yarn over it, the point ofthe latch coming on the inside of the point of the hook of the needleand receiving thelatter in a groove; the object being to enable me toavoid the deep groove in the needle, and

the breadth thereof necessary to cover the point of the latch whenarranged to go outside of the point of the hook, and thus allow ofmaking the needles of this kind much finer than they have beenheretofore made. In order to hold the latches thus arranged in position,I make a spring-shank on the lower part, which prevents the slides fromturning and getting out of place in the machine, and also serves toclose the point on the hook when in operation.

Figure l is a side elevation of my improved needle. Fig. 2 is a frontelevation, and Fig.3 is a cross-section on the line was of Fig. 1.

Instead of having the slider A fitted in a groove in the front of theneedle'B, Ipropose, for making the needle as thin as possible for finegoods, to have it fit against the front side only, and only groove thefront of the needle at O for a short distance to carry the yarn over thepoint, and this groove I form by slight flanges projecting forward fromthe front side of the needle. To keep the slider in position on thefront of the needle I depend on the walls of the groove and thespring-shank D,

which I apply to the lower end. This shank also serves to keep the pointof the slider from dropping away rearward from the point of the hook bythrowing the upper end out in consequence of pressing the lower oneback. In order to reduce the thickness of the needle from front to rearI have the point of the slider come up under the point of the hook,providing it with a groove, F, for receiving the hook, so that the yarnwill pass over it. By this arrangement the point of the latch is at theinner side, so that the groove at G will, though very shallow, be deepenough to protect the yarn from said point. The groove at 0 being inV-form, the inner side of the slider is necessarily the reverse of it,and is therefore the best shape for having the groove A made in thepoint of the slider with the least thickness of metal thereat, all ofwhich is favorable to the construction of fine needles. E represents acoil made at the lower end of the common shank G by a prolongation ofthe wire and a return bend, or a coil of one or more turns to get abearing-surface behind to prevent the needle from tipping back tosupport it sidewise, and to make greater bearing-surface at sides. Thispart of the needle is particularly applicable to machines known asfooters, where apart of the stocking is knit flat on said footers by aforward-and-back motion.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent The needle B having the projecting flanges at O tocarry the yarn over the point of the slider, and the slider having thespring-shank D and groove F, combined and arranged togethersubstantially as specified.

NATHAN H. BALDWIN.

Witnesses:

WARREN D. HUsE, G. H. MATHES.

